The 1st Hitter Power Rankings of 2024
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The Hitter Power Rankings are back for 2024.
Last week, we debuted our Starting Pitcher Power Rankings by ranking the top 10 Opening Day starters. Now it's time for the hitters.
We tasked a panel of MLB.com experts to rank the top 10 hitters in baseball, based on a combination of track record, talent, performance to start the season … and maybe a little "It" factor.
Thirty-five different hitters received votes in our first edition of these rankings, but the voters agreed on one thing: A certain Dodgers superstar is No. 1.
But which one? And who else made the list? Here are the first Hitter Power Rankings of 2024. (All stats are through Tuesday unless otherwise noted.)
1. Mookie Betts, Dodgers
Betts was the unanimous No. 1 choice. And it's not hard to see why. The Dodgers star not only plays at an MVP level year in and year out, he's the hottest hitter in baseball at the start of the season. Betts is leading the Majors with five home runs, 15 hits, 11 RBIs, 14 runs scored and a 1.167 slugging percentage, and he's leading the National League with a .500 batting average and .605 on-base percentage.
2. Juan Soto, Yankees
If anyone is almost as hot as Betts, it's Soto, who's off to a flying start to his Yankees tenure. Soto led New York to a season-opening sweep of the Astros in Houston -- throwing out the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning on Opening Day, hitting his first Yankees home run on Saturday and ripping a go-ahead hit off Josh Hader in the ninth inning on Sunday. He was named the first AL Player of the Week of the 2024 season.
3. Bobby Witt Jr., Royals
The Royals' electric power-speed star is coming off a 30-homer, 49-steal season and looking for more in 2024. Witt has his first two home runs and first stolen base of the season, and the 23-year-old shortstop is also batting .400 with an AL-leading .950 slugging percentage and a 1.428 OPS.
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4. Freddie Freeman, Dodgers
The next member of the Dodgers' Big Three also makes the Top 5 of our power rankings. Freeman's production is like clockwork. He hit .325 with 21 homers, 100 RBIs and a .918 OPS in his first year with the Dodgers in 2022. He hit .331 with 29 homers, 102 RBIs and a .976 OPS in his second year with the Dodgers in 2023. And he's hitting .414 with a 1.114 OPS through his first eight games of 2024.
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5. Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves
The reigning National League MVP rounds out the Top 5. Acuña's 41-homer, 73-steal season in 2023 was downright historic. The Braves superstar is still looking for his first home run of 2024, but that will come soon, and Acuña is batting .316 in the season's early goings.
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6. Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres
Tatis is looking like an MVP contender again. The 25-year-old finished with 25 home runs and 29 stolen bases and won a Gold Glove in right field in 2023 after missing all of the previous season, and he's one of the hottest hitters in the league right now. Tatis is batting .323 with three home runs, a stolen base and a 1.009 OPS through eight games for the Padres.
7. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
And here's the last -- but not least -- member of the Big Three in Los Angeles. Betts, Freeman and Ohtani are the most formidable trio in baseball in 2024. The Dodgers are the only team with multiple hitters in the top 10 of the inaugural 2024 power rankings, and they have three.
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8. Gunnar Henderson, Orioles
Henderson emerged alongside Adley Rutschman as one of the young leaders of the Orioles on their way to 101 wins and the AL East crown in 2023. The 22-year-old hit 28 home runs, had 82 RBIs and ran away with the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Henderson has a .937 OPS through his first five games of 2024 and hit his first homer of the season on Saturday.
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9. Corey Seager, Rangers
Seager is the rock of the Rangers' lineup and is fresh off leading Texas to its first World Series championship in 2023. After batting .327 with 33 home runs and 96 RBIs, finishing as the AL MVP runner-up and taking home World Series MVP honors, Seager is batting .364 through his first five games of 2024 and just hit his first home run of the season on Wednesday.
10. Mike Trout, Angels
Trout is back. The three-time MVP and 11-time All-Star looks like the Trout of old at the start of the 2024 season. He has three home runs in six games through Wednesday, tied for the AL lead, including a monster 473-foot blast on Monday that's the longest of the young season.
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Others receiving votes: Christian Yelich (Brewers), Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (D-backs), Aaron Judge (Yankees), Ozzie Albies (Braves), Yordan Alvarez (Astros), Bryce Harper (Phillies), Randy Arozarena (Rays), Yainer Diaz (Astros), Christopher Morel (Cubs), Luis Robert Jr. (White Sox), Michael Conforto (Giants), Anthony Volpe (Yankees), Jose Altuve (Astros), Francisco Alvarez (Mets), Ke'Bryan Hayes (Pirates), Michael Harris II (Braves), Spencer Steer (Reds), Will Smith (Dodgers), Yandy Díaz (Rays), Jake Burger (Marlins), Kyle Tucker (Astros), Luis Arraez (Marlins), Matt Olson (Braves), Christian Walker (D-backs), Tyler O'Neill (Red Sox)
Voters: Chris Begley, Jason Catania, Theo DeRosa, Daniel Feldman, Travis Miller, Brian Murphy, Sweeny Murti, Efrain Ruiz, Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru, Ismail Soyugenc, David Venn, Tom Vourtsis, Andy Werle